The rivalry: Duke vs. UNC -- it's never dull

Alan Ford

Tuesday

Feb 11, 2014 at 12:01 AMFeb 11, 2014 at 4:20 PM

The great thing about the Duke-Carolina basketball rivalry is that it doesn’t get old.

You can spend a lot of time reviewing all the great games, players, coaches and incidents in the series — which is great fun. But there’s one solid truth to it — you can bet something will happen in one of the two regular-season matchups this year between the longtime ACC powers that will have us talking.

No matter the topic one raises, there’s plenty to go round. And usually there was a league regular-season title, a regional top seed or an ACC tournament title riding on the outcome. So here goes:

Last-second magic: Walter Davis’ buzzer beater to tie it in 1974 for UNC, a feat matched by even longer shot from Duke’s Jeff Capel that did the same in 1995.

Who is that? Little-used Fred Lind came off the Duke bench in 1968 with a red-hot shooting touch to lead the Blue Devils to an upset win in triple-overtime. Robbie West fit the profile as well when he sank a game-winner against the Heels back in ’72 (both at Cameron, of course).

Say what? In the 1966 ACC tournament, the Tar Heels ran the Four Corners (spread) offense the entire game. The score ended up 21-20 for a Duke win. Then in 1979, the Heels didn’t score in the first half when Dean Smith tried that again.

‘Blood on the Floor’: Neither school is too proud of the times that tempers have erupted.

There was the 1960 donnybrook (before my time) with Art Heyman (Duke) and Larry Brown (UNC) the chief culprits. There was the (Eric) Montross game in 1992 when the Tar Heel 7-footer was at the foul line with dried blood on the side of his face. Then in 2003, then-UNC coach Matt Doherty went after Duke assistant Chris Collins after guard Raymond Felton was left a bloody mess.

And the most well-known these days (from 2007) was when UNC All-America Tyler Hansbrough received a flying elbow in the nose from current Charlotte pro Gerald Henderson.

Stunning: UNC rallied from eight points down with 17 seconds left to tie and eventually win in overtime (in the days before the 3-point shot).

Austin Rivers’ 3-point bomb over Tyler Zeller for the 2012 upset of the Tar Heels at the Dean Dome.

Great performances (UNC): Charlie Scott poured in 28 of his 40 points in the ACC title game (1969) to take down the Devils.

In Phil Ford’s swan song, the all-world guard scored 34 points and led a comeback at Carmichael Auditorium.

In 2005, Sean May had a 26-point, 24-rebound to power the Heels to a dramatic win at the Dean Dome.

Great performances (Duke): Christian Laettner, one of the biggest villains from the UNC side of the equation, backed up his bravado. His long-range shooting in his final game two games vs. the Heels (1992) when he 25 and 26 points, respectively, was typical of his performance in the series.

Bob Verga, Duke All-American guard for Duke in 1966-67, made me notice him for the first time with those 29 points against UNC with that unique set-shot he had from long range (before the 3-point shot) at Carmichael Auditorium in '66.

Then there was guard Dick DeVenzio shredding the UNC press for 11 assists — most on long tosses down court for layups by Randy Denton — in the 1971 regular-season finale in Durham.

That’s only a portion of the rich history of Duke-Carolina, through my eyes. I’m sure we’ll have more to talk about Thursday.

Star Sports Editor Alan Ford, who attended his first Duke-UNC game in 1966, can be contacted online at aford@shelbystar.com; 704-669-3336; Twitter @starsptseditor

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